SEE MANDY PICHLER'S GRANT WRITING - ADVICE FROM THE TRENCHES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.

THE SELFSTYLE MANIFESTOIt’s not surprising to hear people say teens are the most self-obsessed generation ever. “Selfie” is the Oxford English Language Dictionary’s word of 2013.

At SelfStyle, we believe teens are obsessed about themselves because they want to be something great. And that their obsession can become determination that turns into action that actually leads to something great.

We believe in a world where all teens who decide to be something can achieve it.

So we’re creating a platform where teens create their own identity by acting on their most positive impulses. A place that encourages compassionate and generous behaviors. A place for building positive relationships, creative confidence and wellbeing.

We believe in a world where the “selfie” is replaced with photos that show the results of creative action. And the influence from these actions ripples out throughout Instagram and the conversations that teens care about.

We’re only starting to build SelfStyle. Join us in making something great together.

HOW IT WORKS1) Users answer the question: “what do you want to be?” by defining and selecting traits from a list designed to cultivate creative confidence.2) Users create a mission designed to showcase their desired trait.3) Users share a photo or video of their completed mission to the platform. The content is shared on Facebook and Instagram.4) Peers on Instagram, Facebook and SelfStyle recognize the behavior which encourages more positive action.

RATIONALEWHY ACTION POSTING? Kids love sharing photos. This way of sharing allows for seamless integration into the conversations and social circles that teens care about on Facebook and Instagram.

WHY PEER CONTROL? Teens can make their own decisions. Even some wrong decisions. But we can’t try to sanitize it and over moderate. The promise of the platform is that they are in charge of their destiny.

*New* Refinement question: What will the future look like with your idea in it?

We believe in creating a world where all teens who decide what they want to be have the positive encouragement to achieve it. A world where kids have the confidence to define their own path in the world and take action to make it happen. A world where the selfish behaviors that currently overrun social networks are replaced with compassionate and creative behavior.

We believe in a world where all teens who decide what they want to be have the positive encouragement to achieve it.

In this challenge, we want to create ideas with young people, not for them. Outline how you’re planning to involve young people or other end-users (parents, teachers, etc) in designing, iterating or testing your idea during the Ideas phase.

DO-IT-YOURSELF PAPER PROTOTYPE POSTEDRight now the biggest need for continued development in SelfStyle is to do some basic research on the experience. There are simple instructions and printable materials in the PDF posted at the bottom of the paragraph. Any contributions of any sort would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

How might you envision your idea spreading across geographies or cultures so that it inspires young people around the world to cultivate their creative confidence?

The idea is fundamentally based on integrating into Facebook and Instagram networks, the most popular social networks among teens globally. All users log into SelfStyle with Instagram or Facebook and SelfStyle posts are placed into feeds on those platforms. The SelfStyle platform also takes feedback from Instagram and Facebook friends via these APIs.

The idea is a free app that will be available for low-speed browsing via PC, tablet or smartphone across operating systems.

What skills, input or guidance would you like to receive from the OpenIDEO community to help you build out or refine your idea further?

CALL FOR VOLUNTEER RESEARCHERS:Will you help me research whether this idea is compelling to teens and mentors? Download the Do-It-Yourself Paper Prototype Research Kit below to help.